KD Platinum Review

[Horton]

http://www.ballofspray.com/images/2017/KDP-5.jpg

The KD brand has returned to the US market with a completely new KD Platinum. The ski’s design is heavily influenced by Terry Winter. Perhaps the best endorsement of the ski is the fact that Terry ran into 41 off during 31 consecutive* tournament rounds and increased his tournament personal best to 3.5 at 41off this year all on the Platinum.

General Feel
If you had to describe the Platinum with just one word it would be “consistent”. This may not sound like a sexy description of a ski, but in a world where many high end skis are twitchy and quirky, consistency is a good thing. In many ways, the Platinum is a throwback to classic designs that are less finicky and more dependable.
If speed is a measure of A) how much physical effort is required to run passes or B ) how easily the ski gets wide at the ball, in both measures the Platinum is faster than most.

http://www.ballofspray.com/images/2017/KDP-4.jpg

Off Side
The Off Side on this ski is simply bulletproof. You almost can’t screw it up. The front of the ski pulls to the inside more than the tail slides around. The stability of the ski makes it easy to be in the right position, and even if you are not, the ski will snap off a sharp turn anyway. Because the tail of the ski rides deep, it is almost impossible to blow the tail. The turns themselves are decisive and fast.

On Side
With the settings used for most of this review (29 1/8 - 2.465 - 6.890 - .779 - 9), the Platinum requires more front foot pressure than most high end skis to make on side turns as consistent and crisp as the Off Side turns. By focusing on a few key technical points, I was able to make the ski turn as well on the on side as the off side. If I am skiing at my technical best, these settings are preferred.

At the end of the review period Terry Winter suggested shallower and longer settings (29 1/8 - 6.950 - 2.450 - .79 ). These settings alleviated the need for extra front foot pressure and made the on side turns much less technically demanding.

Ball to the wakes
Leaving the ball, the ski goes where you point it and errors at the ball are easily compensated for. It holds more than enough angle and speed into the wakes. One of the keys on this ski is to not be overly aggressive into the wakes.
Wakes to the ballThe Platinum flows out wide and draws an early path in front of the ball. The ski carries much of its speed out to the ball line making width somewhat automatic.

http://www.ballofspray.com/images/2017/KDP-3.jpg

Quirks
One of the unexpected attributes of the ski for me was more consistent and more forgiving gates. The hardest part of the whole ski testing process is adjusting for the gate on each different ski. The gate on the Platinum basically just worked from the first ride.

At 180 pounds, I prefer the 66” version of the ski. I suggest that skiers consider sizing down on the Platinum.

Conclusion
The appeal of this ski is high performance without overly technical or finicky requirements.

How consistent was I on this ski? The weekend of the NorCal MasterCraft BallOfSpray Cash Prize I took two practice rides and two Class L tournament rides. The first practice ride was all back to back 32s and 35s. The second practice ride I ran my 7th 38 of the year. The first tournament round I ran 4 @ 38. In the second tournament round, I ran 2 @ 39 to equal my best of the year. Over four rides, this is about as good as I can ski.

*This string of consecutive 39s ended in a head to head format where Terry did not need to run the pass to move on.

 

[gregy]

Why the 66" is it wider? You've been pretty religious with sticking with 67" before?

[ozski]

Great to see KD back in the high end mix. @twhisper looks great on the ski. @Horton excellent review it will be interesting to see how much traction this ski gets.

[gavski]

Great review...interesting that you think you should size down....back in the day i always used to be on a 66", but my last 2 skis have been 67"...

 

i am no heavier (180lbs) and not skiing any slower (36). The reasoning i was given for going longer was that when i drop to 34, the 67" is where i need to be....

 

When you look at the kd size guide: https://goo.gl/gbS1ad it almost reccomends that i should size up to a 68"...

[Chef23]

@gavski if you look at the Platinum page on the website it says up to 185lbs for the 66" Platinum. It looks like the Platinum only comes in 65, 66 and 67 right now.

[Terry Winter]

@gavski there is a KD USA website with the more current ski sizing chart that refers to the Platinum. https://www.kdskisusa.com/kd-platinum

 

 

[gavski]

Good spot....i swear that wasn't there last month....

[Than_Bogan]

Enjoyed the review as always!! Good skiing, btw. Nice to see you back in the groove of running -38s on "any good day."

[ToddF]

@twhisper @Horton can I use my existing HO bindings on the platinum?

[Razorskier1]

sometimes rope lengths also have a bearing on ski sizing, particularly if you are a tweener. If you ski longer/slower speeds, going up one might be better (at least that was true with my Vapor in 2016). If you are at 34/36 and skiing 38 off, shorter might be better. I'd put that question to @twhisper.

[Horton]

As far as the sizing goes - the one thing I didn't try is the shallower/ longer settings with the 67. I went to the 66 to make on side more consistent. It did not feel noticeably smaller, it just made on side better. If I had to start the whole review over again I would probably start with the 67 and the latest settings.

 

This is one of those rare cases where the size difference between the two skis is really not as prominent as expected.

[Dirt]

Terry looks phenomenal on this ski. He never seems to have a loose line or slack at the buoy. His consistency went way up. When he was in Sac this summer, he ran 41 almost every day and multiple times on some days.

@scotchipman I am not sure if they are allowed to say. It is made in the USA by a company that makes some of the highest quality skis on the market.

 

 

[Deanoski]

Connelly is making them!

[Terry Winter]

@ToddF Yes, you will be able to use your HO bindings as long as they are the normal HO plates. Animals, or what bindings?

[ToddF]

yes animal bindings and rtp

[scotty_alz]

huge props to @twishper probably one of the most consistent years anyone has ever had on a slalom ski. you only have one score that's not into 41 and its a 6@39. that's pretty cool i think any pro skier would be happy with those results.

[Bill22]

Bump... with the KD twitter feed showing a pile of new skis I thought this would be something to re-read.

[The_MS]

The best off side of any ski I have been on.

[MickeyThompson]

@MS so your off the nano one and on the platinum ?

[DavidN]

Just bought the 2018 model a few weeks ago.

Wonder what they changed for 2019 besides the graphics.

[The_MS]

@MickeyThompson still have them on the rack but I really like the way the KD rides. I put the N1 on for a few rides and then put the KD back on and it really stuck on me. Love the off side. Found you can leave the stock depth and length alone and just need to play with DFT to get it feeling good.

[Bill22]

@MS did you end up with the front binding near stock?

[ozski]

New ski is the same, just the graphics have been updated. @MS is spot on about the offside and it gets cross course much easier than the Goode.

[MickeyThompson]

@MS I rode the nano the 2015 season. Best ski I ever had. For some dumb reason I sold it to switch to an XT. Have tried several things since. Just sold an XTR. Not sure what I’m going to try next. Maybe a KD. Or maybe I need to go back to a Nano one.

[lkb]

I’ve got a warp you can try

[MickeyThompson]

@lkb No Thanks

[Bill22]

Any regular Joes on a 65" KD? I know @ozski said Jacinta Carroll was on this ski.

[bkreis]

you got it?! @Bill22

[Bill22]

it's on a FedEx truck somewhere between Idaho and Virginia.

[The_MS]

@MickeyThompson I have 2 65.25 N1s rights and I wold agree they are may all time greats. The hardest transition to the KD was just learning to ride it and not pull myself around like the N1. If I use the same pull style as the N1 I would always over ski.

[DavidN]

@Horton

Would you be able to share the long shallow settings for the 66” KD Platinum?

I’d really like to try them.

Thanks a lot!

[Horton]

try

 

6.950

2.450

.79

29 1/8

9

 

[The_MS]

That is long, shallow and forward.

[teammalibu]

Forward feels better to me! .800

[Horton]

I will start reviewing the new version tomorrow.